Thursday, July 19, 2012

Maybe some of you read about it in the paper, or saw it on the news. The report of the man who had been inner tubing on the Spokane River on Monday, who had gone off his raft and been swept into the water. Search teams found his body the next day.

The news reports first only identified him as a “21-year old man from Spokane.” I didn’t know him well, but he was my girlfriend’s little brother. And that word “man” isn’t quite right, because in some ways he was just a kid, who didn’t know how swift and dangerous the river could be.

He was a complex kid, described by his favorite teacher as “profound.” Someone who asked big questions and sought to understand the world. Someone still learning to navigate the world and find his place in it. Someone who enjoyed solitude. Who took photos of landscapes, and of his dog, whom he took on long walks, and of his ferret. He was so sensitive, he never killed insects; he would move them outside from the house.

When he climbed into the river that day, with his best friend, in a spot where the water was particularly calm, under a hot summer sun, surrounded by evergreen trees and bird sounds, he left his backpack on the shore with his stuff in it. It was returned to the family the next day.

And with the family’s gracious permission, I took a photograph of the contents.

A pair of shoes, socks carefully tucked inside. Phone. Wallet. An Applause Guitar user’s manual, and guitar picks. A knit hat that he almost always wore, even in the summer. Some coins. A Weider hand grip. Three AAA batteries. A well-used general science book. A pen. Scraps of paper, some probably important to him, a few that he may have picked up to throw away (he hated litter).

Some of the papers are hard to see. A page with a simple note, “PLEASE BRING MY BAG & GUITAR”:

A fortune from a cookie:

A scrap of paper with lyrics on it:

A list with numbers:

Also in his wallet was a piece of paper with pi printed out to 260 decimal places:

A packet of guitar picks:

There was something banal and bland about the news, the description of a 21-year old man from Spokane.

This was the stuff he had with him. His stuff. They are something less than a portrait. But these fragments, taken together, give a glimpse of the person Kyeffer Scott was.

What a tender remembrance of “a 21 year old man from Spokane”. I feel like I know a little bit more about him now. And it leaves a hollow and sad place in my heart for his loss, and for Alicia and for his family. I am so sorry. And Thank you Larry for this glimpse of Kye. Rest in peace indeed.

This is beautiful Larry!! What a special way to look into the life of someone taken to young! My heart hurts for Alicia, Heather, and the rest of the family!! I wish we could be there! Much love to you all!

So beautifully written that I am crying for a person who I didn’t know and whos life was ended short. What he accomplished and meant to many people though is a lifetime of joy. I pray that you, his family, and his friends can all find peace in the fact that they got to know this articulate soul.

Larry,
Thank you for this beautiful post. You’re right– these things were bits, scraps, trinkets– but they were his, and were a part of the person he was, however insignificant. I don’t think I met Kyeffer, but I felt I knew him a little from years of hearing Alicia talk about her baby brother– how she worried about him, was proud of him, was exasperated by him, protected him, loved him… thank you for this portrait of someone who will be very missed, I’m sure, by his friends and family.

Thank you for reminding me how majestic, complex and fragile we all are. As a person who carries a bag every day and has lived long enough to have sorted through the belongs of to many that have went before me, this is one of the most touching tributes i could think of. Thank you for allowing us to see a glimpse of the person he was.

Thank you Larry. The tittle “21 year old man..” hit me in a daze too…. the memory that has always stuck with me the clearest is our first meeting…it was our annual family picnic at Flaming Gyser Park and it was hot. My son and I were wading in the Green River to cool off….Kyeffer stood on the shore interested but not sure he wanted to join us until my son plucked a crawdad from the shallow rocks…Kyeffers eyes lit-up in amazment and we had a blast by that river bank all afternoon…His Eyes….His eyes always had so much to say…

A beautiful acknowledgement of who he was and another way his presence lingers on… He was a Profound Human and a gentle soul. The loss of him leaves man-kind without a bright and shining presence whom by his ways he could have led –simply by example. Instead, thia tragedy left a gaping hole and an eternally wounded heart to those who loved him. May his light continue to shine. And I want to thank you for this – I know this meant alot to his family. Mary

Kyffer.was johns best friend, and became a good friend of mine, times John called me dad and Kyffer was right there. John lived in our house the past year, Kyffer on our couch, a lot. I would listen to him play guitar for hours. He would use my sons amp, he would serenade us. I thought of these two boys ‘men’ as mine. I cried my eyes out when I heard. He was in our house that dreadful morning. I can still see kyf shutting our Front door. I miss him, the world has lost a great man.. Backpack, guitar and man……

Kye was a good friend if my families he use to bug me about learning guitar John brought him over quite a bit it was hard to believe the kid walking into our house wearing a ac dc shirt and black hair with red racing stripes would end up being such a good friend of ours

Leave a comment

Currently you have JavaScript disabled. In order to post comments, please make sure JavaScript and Cookies are enabled, and reload the page.Click here for instructions on how to enable JavaScript in your browser.